Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud

What we do

Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud provide an independent appraisal function for the Council with assurance on its internal controls, fraud and governance processes.

It assists the Director of Finance discharge the statutory and regulatory requirements under Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972.

These functions require us to hold or have access to information from systems and processes across the council, in order to fulfil the legal requirement of providing an internal audit function and to prevent, detect, deter and investigate referrals of fraud, bribery and corruption.

Contact details

Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud,
Directorate of Finance,
The Woolwich Centre,
35 Wellington Street,
London SE18 6HQ

Why we need your information and how we use it

Information collated as part of a sample to undertake internal audits of council provided services and of services provided to the Council;
Information used for proactive anti-fraud exercises to identify fraud;
To assist with the investigation of criminal, civil and disciplinary offences;
To verify that the information you have supplied is correct and accurate;
For service planning, delivery and improvement;
To protect the public funds administered by the Council;
Sharing of information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, or where undertaking a public function, to prevent and detect fraud;
Sharing of information with fraud prevention agencies to prevent fraud and money-laundering and to verify your identity.

(Please note if fraud is detected, you could be refused certain services, finance, or employment).

What type of information we collect

Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud may collect a wide variety of information from a range of sources, including, but not limited to:

Personal, such as name, date of birth, address;
Employment, such as National Insurance number, employer details, employment history, next of kin and sickness records;
Financial details, such as bank account information, mortgage accounts, pensions and credit history;
Health information gathered to assess eligibility for benefits;
Information gathered during the course of an investigation or proactive exercise;
Documentary evidence provided in order to access council services.

Who we may share your information with

Information may be shared with other internal departments within the Council. It may also be shared with other agencies for the detection and prevention of fraud and crime.

A list of who we share data is listed below and includes but is not limited to:

Internal Departments
Other Local Authorities
Registered Social Landlords
Other Government Departments, including the Cabinet Office
Cifas
Police
Employers
NHS
Judicial agencies, for example; HM Courts & Tribunal Service
Where information is requested under relevant legislation
Agencies with whom we have a duty to co-operate.

The Cabinet Office currently requires all Local Authorities to participate in a data-matching exercise, known as the National Fraud Initiative to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud.

We are required to provide particular sets of data to the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise.

The use of data by the Cabinet Office in a data-matching exercise is carried out with the statutory authority under its powers in Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

How long we keep your information

Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud have retention schedules in place to ensure that information is only held for as long as is needed.

For successful sanction cases, we are requested to keep your information for a minimum of seven years after which time it will be destroyed.

For other cases, your information will be kept for 3 years after which time it will be destroyed.